Method of and means for producing threads, strands, wire, and the like



Feb. 24, 1925. 1,527,421

M. B. LLOYD METHOD OF AND mums FOR PRODUCING THREADS, swamps, WIRE,AND THE LIKE FiledJan. 12, 1922 2 Sheets-Shoot 1 Feb. 24. 1925. 1,527,421

M. B. LLOYD METHOD OF AND MEANS FOR PRODUCING THREADS, STRANDS, WIRE, AND THE LIKE Filed Jan. 12, 1922 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 jiwerzzore many lineal feet of fibre reed material and.

Patented Feb. 24, 1925.

UNITED STATES. PATENT OFFICE..

MARSHALL 1B. LLOYD, OF MENOMINEE, MICHIGAN, ASSIGNOR TO HEYWOOD-WAKE- FIELD COMPANY, OF BOSTO'N, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION MASSACHU- SETTS.

METHOD OF AND MEANS FOR PRODUCING THREADS, STRANDS, WIRE, AND THE LIKE.

Application filed January 12, 1922. Serial No. 528,674.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, MARSHALL B. LLOYD, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Menominee, Michigan, have invented a certain new, useful, and Improved Method of and Means for Producing Threads, Strands, Wire, and the like, of which the following is aspecification.

While my invention may be used for a number of different purposes, I am concerned primarilywiththe manufacture of fibrous strands. I shall, therefore, dwell particularly upon that subject. This, how-' ever, I wish to be considered as by way of illustration, and not by way of limitation.

Atypical example of such a fibrous strand is the so-called fibre reed. Fibre reed is a product which is very extensively used in the manufacture of baby carriages, furni ture, andthe like and is formed by passing a ribbon of paper through a die, meantime rapidly twisting the paper to form the rib.- bon into a mass of such form that it can be properly compacted by the die in its passage therethrough.

Fibre reed is made in various sizes and in numerous cross-sectional shapes, and in some instances, the paper ribbon is first immersed in glue and then twisted, and other instances the paper is merely tightly twisted and then compacted by passage through a die.

A fibre reed article, such as a piece of furniture or a baby carriage is composed of the manufacture of these articles has been reduced to such a state that it is very desirable that the fibre required for the manufacture of a given article shall always be of a given weight because the material is sold by the pound. It is also desirable that the sizeof the fibre strands shall be uniform as this affects the appearance.

Great difliculty has been encountered in the proper manufacture of fibre reed strands for the reason. that the paper, because of its abrading character, very quickly wears the surface of even the most hardened steel die. A hardened steel die, such as has heretofore been used, wears away to such an extent that 0 within four or five hours it must be dis carded and a new die inserted. From the time the die is put into operation until it is discarded the fibre strand is made progressively larger due to the, progressively enlarging die opening, with the result that a much larger amount of paper is placed into a given numeral of feet of the strand than is desired. In the courseof the production of reed articles, on the scale on which it is carried-on, in manufacturing plants, this excess weight, which is undesirably embodied in the material, amounts to a very substantial amount, indeed.

It is an object of my invention to provide amethod whereby fibre reed or other strands can be produced which shall be of uniform cross-sectional area.

Another object of my invention is to providemeans wherewith it shall be possible, upon a. practical commercial scale, to produce fibre reed or other strands that shall be of substantially uniform cross-sectional area throughout.

Again it is an object of my invention to provide a method for the production of strands of substantially uniform cross-sec.- tion which shall be automatic in its opera tion.

Other objects of my invention, are to provide means which shall require little attention; to provide a die construction which shall be less expensive and of greater durability than dies heretofore devised for that purpose; and generally to simplify and cheapen the cost of production of strand material and the articles produced therefrom.

My invention will bemore readily understood by .reference to the accompanying drawings which illustrate what I consider, at the present time, to be the best embodiment thereof.

In said drawings:

Fig. 1, is a general view, in elevation, illustrating the conversion of a ribbon of material into a strand, under my invention.

Fig. 2, is a .top plan view of the die through which the ribbon of material passes.

Fig. 3, a detailed view of the die substantially on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4, is a vertical cross-sectional view throughthe die taken substantially on the line 44 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 5,15 an enlarged sectional view showmg the wire member that formsthe the openln Fig. 6, is a general view, in elevation, of a modification of my invention in which antomatic means are provided for maintaining the proper cross-sectional area of the strand, some of the parts being shown diagrammatically; and

Fig. 7, is a plan view of the mechanism shown 'in Fig. 6.

As stated in the opening of the specification, I am primarily interested, at the present time, in the manufacture of fibre reed strands and for that reason, and because it is sufficiently illustrative, will limit my description to the production of such materm 5.

Referring to the drawings: 1, represents a ribbon of paper which is withdrawn from the spool 2, and which in some instances passes under a roller 3, thereby dipping into a receptacle 4, containing a glue size. As here shown, the ribbon 1, then passes over a roller 5, and into a die 6, from which it emerges as a tightly compacted hard strand 7. It should, here, be added that the strand 7 is being rapidly twisted, (by mechanism not shown) so that the paper is very tightly twisted when it emerges from the die. It is not necessary to illustrate the twisting mechanism because this may be of usual or desired construction, and as a matter of fact the same may be said with respect to the spools containing the paper, the sizing mechanism, and the like. I have designed my novel die mechanism so that it may be inserted in the place of the die mechanism heretofore employed in such manufacturing processes. It should also be understood that the paper may not be sized unless desired.

The die mechanism 6, as here shown, comprises a block member 8, which has a relatively large central opening 9, and which is providedwith a bell-shaped mouth 10, in order to avoid any danger of tearing the paper ribbon as it enters the opening 9. At the other end will be found a centrally arranged cylindrical member 11, a portion 12, of which extends beyond the member 8, and forms a bearing for the worm wheel 13. The member 11 is provided with a conical central opening in which is arranged a spiral wire member 14, one end 15, of which projects outwardly and is held in a slot 16 provided, therefor, in the member 8 and the other end 17, of which extends into a slot 18 provided therefor, in the block 19. The block 19, is secured in the worm wheel 13 so that it rotates therewith, and to permit easy assembly of the parts, the block 19 is removably secured by means of a screw 20. In this manner the die surface is provided with a large entrant opening 21, a small exit opening 22, and an opening of progressively substantially,

changing size therebetween. By rotating the Worm wheel 13, in one direction it is possible to diminish the size of the exit opening 22 and by rotating it in the opposite direction enables a very accurate and minute adjust ing or regulation of the die surface. In the manufacture of the die surface the wire need only be formed substantially to size, after which the die surface or opening can be accurately changed or adjusted, as may be required, for the production of a strand of predetermined size. This eliminates the necessity of extremely accurate manufacture of the die such as is required in the production of the solid dies heretofore used. Again it enables the production thereof more rapidl with unskilled labor and at little cost. dg o much for the initial production of the In operation the die is of even greater value for the reason that it becomes possible to produce continuously a strand of unvarying, cross-sectional area. This is not possible with the more expensive and less efficient dies, heretofore employed. I might, here, add that the wire which I prefer to use in the spiral that forms the die surface is a high grade piano wire. Of course the wire die surface wears away in use, but not rapidly, and the workman tending the machine gages the fibre strand from time to time and when it is found that the strand is slightly oversize a partial turn of the wheel 27, in the direction of the arrow, serves to reduce the size of the opening 22, or rather to restore it to its initial desired size. This adjustment may be continued from time to time, as may be required, until the die has worn to such an extent as to be no longer usable, at which time the wire die can be quickly removed and a new wire die easily supplied. might, here, add, that the wire die can be produced at about one-fiftieth of the cost of the solid die heretofore in general use and that its useful life, under like conditions, is about three times that of the solid While graduations may be placed upon one of the rotating parts regulating the die to indicate the size of the die opening, I do not deem this necessary since the workman can readily gage the strand as it emerges, without difficulty.

My invention contemplates complete aulll) l to ti operation and I have "illustrated in I. oversize, the" age, through to be describe 1 opening to that required toproduce a strand Figs. 6. and7,fm'echanism adapted to accomeration. All of the parts which are similar to the parts of Figs. 1 to 5' have been given like reference characters.

.plish such op and it will be understood that the die surface and the general operation of the, die

is the same. In this instance, instead of depending upon the gaging of the strand 7, from time to time, by the workman, and upon the" workman manually adjusting the d1e opening by turning the wheel 27, I provide an automatic deviceor gage which conpening. That is to say that trols the die 0 if the die 0 emng becomes enlarged, due to wear, and t 'e' emerging strand is therefore means shortly reduces t e size of the die of deslred cross-sectional area.

The mechanism shown in Flgs. 6 and 7 for accomplishing this purpose comprises two rolls 28 and 29. The lower roll 28 is held against anything but rotary 'motion. The upper roll 29 isrot-atab-ly mounted in a long lever 30 close to the pivot 31 thereof. The outer ,end of the lever 30 is provided with a contact plate 32 which when the gage rolls28 and 29 are the desired distance apart, i. e. when the strand 7 is of desired cross-sectional size, is out of contact with the terminals 33 and 34 of the electric f'wires 35 and 36 that are connected respectively to the solenoid 37 and the electric battery or other source of electrical energy 38. The lower end of the solenoid core 39 is pivotally joined at 40 to a lever 41, which r'nrt'urn, is pivotallyjoined at 42 to the axis offthe ratchet wheel 43, which ratchet wheel functionally corresponds to the hand wheel 27, heretofore described. That isto say,

a when the ratchet wheel 43 is turned the size of the wire die surface or opening is changed and when the ratchet wheel 43 is moved in the direction of' the arrow (see Fig. 6) the size of thedie openingis reduced and it is this action. that is desired when the filler strand becomes larger than is desired. To accomplish this purpose I pivot a-pawl 44 to 'the lever 41 and hold it n. contact with teeth 43 of the ratchet wheel 43 by means of a spring 45. Thus upward swinging movement of the lever 41 causes turning movement of the ratchet wheel 43 in the direction of the arrow with the resultant diminution in the size of the die opening. Let us assume, now, that'the filler strand7 as a result of the die opening being enlarged, by wear or otherwise, emerges slightly larger than is desired.

This being the case the roll 39 is raised lifting the lever 30 and causing the contact block 32 thereof to engage the electric terminals 33 and 34 thus closing the circuit, energizing the solenoid and raising the solenoid core 39 and the lever 41 to which it is attached. As before stated this causes the rotation of the ratchet wheel resulting in the reduction of the size of the die opening and obviously reducing the size of the filler strand, as desired. Immediately the filler strand is reduced in size, the lever 30- drops thereby drawingthe contact block 32 away from the terminals 133 and 34 and breaking the electrical circuit which deenergizes the solenoid, thereby permitting the core 39 to fall, by gravity, thus restoring the lever 41 to its initial position so that it can again be raised, in like manner, so soon as the filler strand reaches an undesired oversize, which oversize obviously can be regulated within such'practical limits as may be found to be necessary or advisable.

Since this disclosure will readily suggest to others modified methods and means 3. A die formed of a conical spiral coil of material cylindrical in cross section.

4. A die formed of a conical spiral .coil of hard wire with the convolutions arranged in engagement with each other.

5. A dieformed of a coil of hard wire, s'aid coil being of a conical spiral formation at one end.

6. A die formed of a conical spiral coil I and having a centrally disposed opening,

and means for engaging parts of said coil for adjusting the size of said opening.

7. A die formed of a conical spiral coil having a tapering opening presenting an 1111- broken annular surface.

8. A d1e formed of conical spiral. coil havmg a tapermg opening presenting an unbroken annular surfaces, and means for contracting the coil for afi'ecting an adjustment of said tapering opening.

9. The method of making astrand of substantially uniform, cross-sectional area thatconsists in providing material of whlch the strand isto be formed, passing the material through an adjustable die opening and in using the emergin strand to regulate the size of the die openi g 10. The" method of making a strand of substantially uniform, cross-sectional area that consists in providing material of which the strand is to be formed, passing the material through a die. opening, and in successively restoring the die surface by adjustment of the die itself, at it Wears, to such size as will produce the desired sized strand by using the emerging strand to regulate said adjustment.

11. Means for producing a strand of substantially uniform cross-sectional area comprising a die having an adjustable die surface, means positioned in the path of the completed strand, for adjusting the size of the die opening, said means being operable by engagement ith the ompleted strand.

12. A die em odying t ierein a stationary member, a rotatable member, and a conical spiral coil having one end fixed in the stationary member and the other in the rotatable member.

13. A die embodying therein a stationary member, a rotatable member, a conical spiral coil having one end fixed in the stationary member and the other in the rotatable member, and means for rotating the rotatable member.

14. A die embodying therein a stationary member, a rotatable member, a conical spiral coil having one end fixed in the stationary member and the other in the rotatable member, and WOTIII gear mechanism for imparting desired rotation to said rotatable member.

15. A die embodying therein a stationary member, a rotatable member, a conical spiral coil having one end fixed in the stationary member and the other in the rotatable member, Worm gear mechanism for imparting desired rotation to said rotatable member, and ratchet mechanisinfor actuating said worm gear mechanism.

16. A die embodying therein a stationary member, a rotatable member, a conical spiral coil having one end fixed in the stationary member and the other in the rotatable member, ratchet mechanism for rotating said Worm gear mechanism, and a solenoid for operating said ratchet mechanism.

17. A die embodying therein a stationary member, a rotatable member, a conical spiral coil having one end fixed in the stationary member and the other in the rotatable member, ratchet mechanism for rotating said Worm gear mechanism, a solenoid for operating said ratchet mechanism, and means fordenergizing and deenergizing said soleno1 18. A die formed of a continuous length of wire arranged in a conical spiral coil With the convolutions in engagement With each other throughout the entire coil, the ends of said Wire projecting beyond the last convo lutions in planes at a right angle to the axis of said coils to provide means by which the coil may be tightened to reduce its diameter throughout its length.-

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, this 30th day of December, 1921.

MARSHALL B. LLOYD. 

